The days had gone by fast, faster than the old Hawk had felt in a long time. He was used to waiting years, decades, for his plans to unfold. Watching, as piece by piece, his machinations all fell into place.
However, seeing the growth of the students in the academy in just a year made him understand why youth tends to create impatience, the rate at which many of them had excelled through their studies or had dropped out had surprised even him. He smirked to himself.
"Hiruzen, you old monkey, you've outdone yourself this time."
All these thoughts ran through his mind as he supervised the first class as they sparred in the courtyard, watching them keenly from the headmaster's office.
Danzo had come into his own at the academy. At first, he had taken his punishment as he always had, stoically and professionally, as a true shinobi should. However, as the months rolled by (and as much as he would deny it vehemently), his new posting had grown on him.
Of course, there was much work that had to be done and much work still to be done, but with the rate things were progressing, Danzo was more than pleased with the academy.
"Begin!" The instructor called, breaking his train of thought. Danzo's eyes focused on the two children inside the ring. Both were females, one the Hyuuga heiress and the other an unknown pink-haired girl.
The pink-hair one rushed the heiress, yelling a war cry with her fist raised above her head.
"Bold," Danzo muttered under his breath, expecting the Hyuuga heiress to take her out in one hit regardless of how much fire her opponent had.
However, that is not what happened. Instead, the heiress flinched and, at the last moment, parried the overhead strike that the pink-haired girl had aimed at her head. The parry pushed her off-balance and made her stumble, which the heiress should have used as an opportunity to end the spar.
But yet again, she defied all expectations of a shinobi and instead used her opponent's pause to move to the other side of the ring.
Like a bull, the pink-haired girl was incensed at the dodge and did the same thing she had done before. This time the Hyuuga, instead of parrying, moved to the very edge, seemingly terrified of the charging girl.
Danzo watched the girls with confusion, had the Hyuuga's neglected their heiress' training? Or was she naturally timid?
Waiting once again for the last second, the heiress sidestepped her opponent and pushed the pink-haired girl out of the ring with a mighty shove.
"And so the mare shows her hooves." Danzo mused.
"Draw!" The instructor announced.
The headmaster's brow furrowed again in confusion. Then he saw that the heiress', in her sidestep, had planted a foot outside of the ring.
"Make the sign of peace!"
The pair of students moved to the middle of the ring again, bowed to each other, and shakily raised their right hands in a sign of peace.
"What a strange spar!" Danzo exclaimed in the quietness of his office, the group in the courtyard not hearing him in the slightest. The heiress' fighting was sloppy and timidity radiated from her. But she showed apparent potential. So why was her cousin, a branch member no less, doing so much better than her?
He turned his back to the window and went for the door.
The breeze in the office felt good, but Danzo thought it felt much better to be outside than indoors, regardless of his previous headquarters, a quarter of a mile deep underground.
Again a pair of children were sparring as Danzo walked outside, but he was more interested in the girl slowly sitting on a tree swing, watching the crowd of students and the fight. He took a moment to inspect the heiress truly.
Her hair was cut short, a noblewoman's sign of disgrace, an automatic red flag for Danzo. While maintaining the Hyuuga's glassy and somewhat distant appearance, her eyes seemed dead compared to the average Hyuuga. Her posture was closed and shy, showing apparent stress and exhaustion.
If Danzo were any less of a hardened shinobi, he would have been saddened by her appearance, but he was accustomed to this sort of thing. He had been all his life. What was one more child broken by war after all?
But as those tired and timid eyes looked up at him, he couldn't help but feel a twinge in his heart as she stared at him for a moment, terrified at being stared down by her headmaster. After a moment of eye contact, her head ducked down swiftly, eyes meeting the dirt below her as she swung silently.
His head turned to look back at the crowd, watching the next fight but only half-paying attention as he felt her fear emanating from her tiny frame.
"Damnit!" One of the boys grunted, pulling Danzo's attention. "Take that!" He flung a kunai at his opponent with a clumsy swing, which went wide and flew toward the swinging girl.
Within a blink of an eye, Danzo drew a kunai of his own and had thrown it in the trajectory of the offending weapon. It struck true, and the kunai was thrown off its course. However, in the process, Danzo's kunai had sheered off a piece of steel from it. The shrapnel continued and gave the heiress a shallow cut on the cheek, whose reflexes being too slow, had not realized what had happened until it was too late.
Slowly she put a hand to her bleeding and pulled it back, looking at the blood on her hand. Her eyes sprang tears, and she silently started to cry on the swing, her hiccuping being heard by the now silent courtyard.
"Let that be a lesson to you!" Danzo's voice boomed out, turning the students' attention to him. "That in combat, you must be mindful of your opponents AND your comrades." His eyes glared at the student who had thrown the kunai.
"If I had not been there, your classmate could have been seriously wounded, which could cause both their death and yours in the field. Do you understand me?" He growled at the student, an Inuzuka member.
He gulped. "Y-yes, sir!" He hastily said.
"N-no, it's ok, headmaster, he d-didn't mean it." The heiress finally spoke.
"A stutter?" He wondered silently as he turned to her, her face upturned to see him and the Inuzuka.
"It's just a small c-cut headmaster." She said through her tears. "B-besides, I wouldn't be much use on a battlefield, so that it would be ok for me to..." She trailed off.
Danzo stared at her once again, looking into her eyes. Slowly, he walked over to her, pulled out a handkerchief, and pressed it against her open wound. She jumped at the sudden touch.
"What is your name, girl." He asked.
She stared at him in shock before returning, "H-Hina-Hinata, Headmaster."
"Hinata-sama, why do you consider yourself a liability."
"B-because my f..." she stopped to collect herself, blinking slowly and trying to concentrate, obviously having difficulty. "Because my father said that I was useless..." She whispered, shame apparent in her shaking voice.
Danzo stared at her for another second, an unreadable expression covering his face. Then he stood up and looked back over at the students who, at this point, were staring at both him and Hinata.
"All of you would be useless in a battle. Very few nine-year-olds would be of any merit in a fight. Perhaps your father is being unrealistic." He said, still staring at the students who looked away in embarrassment at his comment. Hinata looked up at him, eyes wide with horror at the notion that anyone would disagree with her father.
"But Neji-nissan-"
"Would die as soon as he was in combat. A one-on-one duel is one thing. Actual warfare is something completely different." Danzo interrupted her. "It matters little how skilled he is in a dual. Neji would still die".
Her head dipped, seemingly ashamed that she had disagreed with her superior. "Yes, Headmaster." She whispered.
"The good news is that is exactly why you are here, to become proficient at warfare," Danzo responded. He stood up, handkerchief in hand. "Go to the nurse's office and get that wound taken care of."
She nodded. "Yes, headmaster." And quickly into the building.
Danzo watched her go, and after disappearing inside, he stared down at the handkerchief in his hand.
"Perhaps..."
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"Anemic?" Hiruzen asked skeptically, staring at Danzo from across his desk.
Danzo nodded. "I had her blood checked by the nurses. She has a low red blood cell count, possibly why she has performed poorly in the past".
Hiruzen rubbed his temples. "So you decided, without any precedent or permission, to take a sample of an heiress of one of the most important clans in Konoha?".
Danzo raised an eyebrow. "I am the headmaster of the academy. Is it not my responsibility to care for the children placed in my care?"
Hiruzen rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised you could say that with a straight face." He grumbled.
Danzo nearly did smirk at that.
"So why did you come to me about this then?"
"Normally, I would handle this myself. However, regarding clan heirs and such, it requires the Hokage to approve the medication."
"What do you want to put her on?"
"Iron supplements, preferably of Akimichi make."
Hiruzen looked sharply at him. "Is it truly that bad?"
"That bad, but treatable. The nurses think it is a diet deficiency."
"Well, the Hyuuga with that long narrow stick up their ass will never change their main house diets, much less if for one they deem a disappointment."
"Ah, I should also mention that her poor performance is partially due to psychological issues. I ran a background check legal," Danzo stressed, seeing Hiruzen's partial glare. "Along with the kidnapping incident, her mother died in childbirth of their second daughter. Her father seems to blame much of it on her, if I may guess." Danzo explained
"Why would you say that? And how badly do you think it is?"
"Hinata-sama told me that her father said she was useless and expressed the sentiment that it would be better if she were to die to be less of a burden."
Danzo had touched a nerve, and he knew it. Hiruzen always had a soft spot for children, which is why he assumed that he fought against making the jinchuriki a weapon so vehemently, apart from his heritage.
He could feel the pressure in the room rise as Hiruzen took in his words. "Fine, I permit you to prescribe iron pills to her. Try to keep the dosage low. It can be especially toxic for children if overdosed." He finally ground out.
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"What are these?" Hinata asked, big eyes looking curiously at Danzo.
"Iron supplements." He responded, "the nurses checked your blood. It seems you lack red blood cells in your body. Perhaps that is why your performance is so bad."
Hinata looked down, slightly humiliated by her headmaster's words. "With all due respect, sir, my failure is due to a lack of talent."
Danzo was silent for a moment and then spoke, "Failure is a mode of being, not a fixed destiny."
She cocked her head. "What do you mean, Headmaster?"
"Perhaps you are a failure now, but you don't have to be in a week, a month, six months, a year." He replied, "For you to succeed, you must fail. Otherwise, how will you know what you have done wrong?"
At this point, Hinata's eyes were as wide as saucers, moon-pale eyes staring up at him with hope. Danzo continued.
"Failure is the greatest teacher, the most painful, and she may break you, but she will always be the most excellent teacher if you are willing to listen to her."
"S-so, do you think there's hope for me, sir?" Breathlessly she questioned, hesitant and new hope blooming on her face.
"As I said a few days ago, Hinata-sama, if there truly were no hope for you, I would have sent you away from the academy."
The pair were silent for a moment before Danzo cleared his throat. "Are there any days which you can stay for longer after school?" He asked her.
"F-Friday!" She stuttered out.
"I am offering you tutoring sessions that you would seem to require. Do you accept it?"
She sat stunned in front of him, mouth slightly ajar. She collected herself. "Y-Yes, Headmaster!" She nearly shouted.
For the first time, Danzo allowed himself to crack a small smile at her sudden enthusiasm. "Very well then, will from the end of school to 18:30 hours work for you?"
"Yes, headmaster!" She repeated, this time with more confidence.
"Very well then!" He tapped his cane against the hardwood floor. "You are dismissed. You may return to your class Hinata-sama."
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"Man, this really sucks!" Naruto thought. He had heard about first missions being cursed, but at least cursed is better than boring!
Fire country rarely had severe rainstorms, or they happened mainly near the coast more than anywhere else.
But the gods seemed somewhat of a bad mood for the last few days, for it had been pouring nonstop for nearly half a week.
Of course, such things would never stop the ANBU from carrying out their duties, but it sure made it a whole helluva lot more annoying!
Silently Naruto sighed, making sure his posture never changed as he sat perched on a tree. In another tree, Anko slightly tilted her head. He had been noticed.
The water dripped down the hood of his jacket as he rolled his eyes. Anko and he had started playing a game on sentry duty. Whoever could stay still the longest without any movement won. As it stood, Anko had just won the third round of this patrol. Though she stayed still as stone in her position, Naruto could almost feel her amusement and triumph.
"Yeah Yeah, whatever. Laugh it up, Anko," He said through the ANBU seal on his arm.
Despite emotion not being able to be communicated through the seals' Naruto could hear her cackle in his mind's eye. "Sucks to suck, kid," She shot back.
"Both of you shut up." Tenzo blessedly interrupted her victory speech. She shot him a rude gesture but nevertheless knew when Tenzo was being serious and kept quiet after that.
Naruto returned to his job, watching the treeline as the other half of the squad returned from surveying the surrounding area. He suppressed a shiver, flooded his body with chakra to keep himself warm, and stared straight ahead. He was intent on not showing any weakness for the rest of the mission.
After about another hour, the other half, Yuago and Shyryu, returned to them. "All Clear," Yuago said.
Naruto's shoulders sagged in apparent relief. He was glad to get out of the rain and put on some warm, dry clothes after being out in the storm for more than a few hours now.
All had been routine for the past year for him. Apart from the first mission, Naruto had had no combat or extreme trials since then. He felt slightly guilty because he knew some in his team, like Yuago and Anko, were itching for a more dangerous mission.
He sighed when he felt a clone dispell. Ichiraku's was close because of the storm. Shrugging, he turned the keys to his door and deactivated his security seal. It was still raining hard as the droplets pounded against the windows of his apartment. he put on another set of clothes and flopped down on his couch. Distinctly he wondered about what Kakashi-sensei was doing. Naruto knew he was on a solo mission out of the village, but anything other than that was above his paygrade.
Yawning, he grabbed a scroll from his shelf about some basic elemental theory and sat back down on his couch, listening to the rain, and waited for the kettle on the stove to boil.
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The mist was thick near the port of Okinasakana. Kakashi could barely peer 20 feet in front of him as he walked down one of the roads of the city. Fishmongers and other tradesmen clamored, attempting to get the attention of passersby. Kakashi paid them no mind as he waltzed into a local tavern.
"Want a drink?" The bartender called to him.
"Depends," Kakashi drawled. "Do any of them have fish oil in them?"
The bartender frowned. "We do but only in shots."
"I'll have one in a pint then." Kakashi returned.
"I'll see if we have any in that size." The bartender went into the back and left Kakashi to wait in the bar proper. It was late in the day, but it was evident that it was yet to become filled with its usuals. The only people at the bar at the moment were drunkards.
"Or spies." Kakashi thought just before the bartender returned.
"We do have some in that size. Would you mind coming back with me to inspect them?"
"I would be happy to," Kakashi said as he stepped behind the bar. The barman gestured to the doorframe and walked into the bar's back room. Kakashi followed.
Underneath a dimly lit room, a tall, relatively broad, and fat in the belly man sat with long, red spiky hair. He was eying Kakashi with a decidedly pointed look. After a moment's pause, the red-haired man turned his chair to face him.
"Jiraiya said someone would be coming." He gave after a second pause, never breaking his gaze from Kakashi.
"Well," Kakashi said. "Here I am,"
"So you are." The man grunted. "So what can the famed copycat ninja from Konoha need from a simple businessman like me?"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the mention of his nickname but nevertheless continued. "I've heard through a little bird that there are some snakes in the area. I thought I might take care of them as I passed by."
"Hoho, is that so?" The man quirked his eyebrow, apparently catching on. "Well, they have been causing trouble with some of my brothers, so I suppose I wouldn't mind."
"Know where to find any of their dens...?" Kakashi asked.
"Akanoshi." The now named man replied. "Uzumaki Akanoshi." He shifted his weight and placed his elbow on the table, leaning on it.
"It's my understanding that there's some on the Island just a few miles out. As for where their dens are." Akanoshi shrugged. "Not sure, but I'm certain a man of your talents could trace them back to their dens."
"I see," Kakashi responded. "Is this island where your brothers are?"
Akanoshi narrowed his eyes. "Yes, it is." after a brief silence. "Oh, and one other thing." He added. "Another one has been doing a little snake-hunting in the area, though my brothers and I have paid for it."
Kakashi became interested? "Oh?"
Akanoshi nodded his head. "Yup, a demon that a snowflake follows, be careful, he might be a little...possessive of his prey. I'd try not to get in his way."
The scarecrow didn't know what to make of that just yet. But once he had more information, he would understand. Kakashi shrugged. "Thank you for the heads up."
Akanoshi dipped his head in acknowledgment. "Of course, these snakes have been an issue for us for a few years now. We'll be thankful for any help to get rid of them."
Kakashi nodded.
"If there's nothing else, I believe that is all," Akanoshi said.
"I will take my leave then." Kakashi returned. He bowed slightly to the boss in respect and left.
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Luckily for Kakashi, a fishing boat transporting cargo to Uzushio was pulling out in an hour. Kakashi just had to pay a toll to get over.
"It's damn foggy today, but it's a sure shot to Uzushio," the boat skipper told Kakashi. "Shouldn't take us more than an hour to get over there."
"Thank you," Kakashi responded.
"Though don't know why you'd wanna go over there. Ain't much left other than those fireheads, and they'll chuck you in the sea if they find you snooping around."
The fog cleared up around halfway through their voyage, splitting the air and giving the ship's crew a beautiful sky and perfect visibility. "We'll be needing it when we come up on Uzushio!" The skipper called to Kakashi.
"Why's that?"
"Ain't called the Land of Whirlpools for nothing!" The skipper cackled before spitting overboard. "Don't you worry, though! We've been through these whirlpools a thousand times over!"
Kakashi didn't respond.
A few minutes later, the skipper called out to Kakashi again. "Land ho! there she is!"
He turned to where the skipper was pointing and saw the Island. Even from a distance, it looked desolate.
"It's little more than a rock pounded by the waves." The skipper said. "Course, there's treasures' abound on that rock, but you'd have to get past both the fireheads and their traps."
"Why do they stay there?" Kakashi asked, faking the tourist. The skipper shrugged.
"Who knows? There was a big war a while back, and I think the Land of Water and Land of Lighting teamed up to smash em. Heard the Land o' Stone joined, too, but I doubt it. They like their feet on solid ground." The skipper shrugged again. "Course no one blames them, hell I respect em for it. They stick to that Island like barnacles on a ship. They'd rather die than let others take that rock from em."
"Mmm, I see," Kakashi said, watching the Island. Of course, he knew all of that. The fall of Uzushio had been one of the biggest disgraces to Konoha. Their failure to help the Island village had caused many of their allies to lose faith in them. After all, if they couldn't help what was practically their sister village, then why would they help anyone else?
Of course, Konoha had its hands tied up on multiple fronts, and the Daimyo had forbidden them from going to their aid because of a scandal between the Lord's son and the Uzumaki clan. Still, it was not their brightest day.
Kakashi silently prayed for the Uzumaki, who fell needlessly because Konoha could not come to their aid.
However, something caught Kakashi's eye: a glint from the horizon. Kakashi swore and barely had time before.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Kakashi had ducked under three shuriken, which had firmly lodged themself into the mast behind. He stood up and sprinted to the side of the boat, intent on finding out who had thrown them.
Three men in masks stood on the water, kunai in their hands as they stared back at Kakashi. Two sprinted forward as soon as Kakashi saw the trio and ran up the ship's side while the last one started performing hand signs.
Kakashi threw a pair of shuriken at the one performing the ninjutsu. The boat's sway knocked off his aim slightly as the ninja dodged it, the blades sinking harmlessly to the bottom of the sea. However, it stopped him for a brief second. He then hopped over the side and used chakra to stick himself to the side of the boat.
One of the attackers' let out a warcry and brought down their kunai in an overhead thrust over Kakashi's head. He grabbed the attacker's wrist and thrust a kunai deep into his stomach. The other ninja appeared behind Kakashi, intent on a surprise attack.
With effortless ease, Kakashi pivoted and used his first attacker's body to block the ninja's ambush. His enemy's eyes widened as he saw that his kunai suddenly had embedded itself in his comrade's body. Kakashi used his attacker's surprise to pull out another kunai and slit his jugular open.
Clasping his neck and letting out a gurgle, the ninja's chakra grip on the ship slipped, and he fell off the side, his floating body dying, the waters red with his blood. Kakashi let go of his human shield, which dropped like a stone and hit the water with a crash before coming up and floating with his comrade.
The final one, who had before been distracted by Kakashi's shuriken, finally let off his jutsu. A fireball erupted from his mouth and sped towards the sails of the boat. Kakashi's eyes widened as he ran through the seals to create a water bullet, but it was too late.
The sailors screamed and roared as they saw their boat's sails burst into flames. In ten seconds, the deck had become utter chaos. The skipper was shouting out orders to his men, trying his best to keep the crew from fully panicking.
"Roll them up! Without those sails, we'll be dead in the water!" The skipper called to his sailors. They tried to hoist them up, but the ropes had caught fire too, snapping them. Suddenly Kakashi felt the boat move under his feet.
They were moving towards a whirlpool, about 50 feet and closing fast.
"Brace for impact!" The skipper said as they drew nearer and nearer to the whirlpool when all of a sudden, the boat came to a complete halt, causing many of the men to fall over.
Kakashi sprinted to the side once more to see an Uzumaki standing upon the water with his hands outstretched, straining against the boat. With a roar, the Uzumaki gave a mighty shove, and the ship lurched lazily towards the shore.
The ship, carried by the waves of the sea, resisted the pull back into the whirlpool and instead headed straight for the Island. With a mighty crash, the flaming boat beached itself onto a sandy outcrop of the Island, making the crew safe and sound, as well as their cargo.
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and stood up straight, surveying the deck. Behind him, the captain ordered. "Go below and fetch the water! We need to put out those fires. Kakashi, however, was already on it.
"Suiton! Water Wave!" With the appropriate seals, Kakashi blew a wave of water onto the masts and sails, putting the flames out and drizzling the deck in water. In just a few seconds, most of the fire was gone.
The last few fires were being stomped out of existence by the crew as Kakashi went to look over the side.
The man from earlier was standing on the beach simply looking at Kakashi. He called up to him.
"Akanoshi said you would be coming!"
"Well, here I am!" Kakashi returned, mimicking his recent greetings.
The man laughed and called out again. "We've paid well for the cargo on that ship, help me get it out, and then we'll talk about those troublesome snakes."
Kakashi turned back to the crew still putting out the rest of the fires. "I think it'll be a moment before we can unload your precious cargo!" He said.
And it did take them quite a while. After all of the last fires were finally put out, the skipper wanted a full status report of the ship.
"Well, it ain't good." He grumbled. "The main sail's burned to cinders, and the other two are badly damaged. We'll have to stay on the Island a while to patch up the sails."
Finally, the gangplanks were lowered, and the cargo came down on the beach. The man whistled, and two more of his kinsman appeared on the ridge and walked down, helping the men with their load. While helping, Kakashi finally looked at the man who had saved the ship back on the sea.
He was broad-chested and had thick forearms that betrayed an immense power in his body. Long red hair was tied up in a low ponytail, and he wore a pair of drab grey harem pants and a ratty brown shirt that had been pulled back and sewn at the elbows to not get in the way at work. Over all that, he was wearing a flak jacket that had seen too much use. In fact, the zipper had been ripped off long ago and was currently being fastened by what appeared to be fish bone buttons. All in all, he was a roguish-looking fellow who looked more perhaps like a pirate than a shinobi if not for the fuinjutsu tattoos on his forearms.
"Alright, let's get these home!" He called his family members. They nodded in affirmation and, with a quick word and signs, created a few Kage bunshin each, who promptly loaded up their cargo and trotted off the beach to some unknown place to Kakashi. The stranger turned to Kakashi.
"Ah, where are my manners? I am Tekihanta," He said in a quiet neutral voice and extended his hand to Kakashi, who took it.
"I'm Kakashi." Wincing at Tekihanta's grip. "Geez, he's got a grip like a gorilla!" He silently moaned.
"Yes, Akanoshi said you would be coming," Tekihanta repeated, keeping his neutral tone. "The famed shinobi from Konoha." Kakashi could not help but hear the slightly bitter tone Takihanta had used for his home village. Internally he sighed but couldn't blame the man.
"Yes, well, I've been tasked to perform reconnaissance in the area because of a particular snake that Akanoshi mentioned.
Takihata's eyes narrowed but nodded. "I see. You are welcome to stay as long as needed in the area. My family will see to it."
Kakashi bowed his head in thanks. "Many blessings upon you and your descendants." He said, remembering the old benediction Kushina had told him about all those years ago.
Takihanta seemed taken aback but quickly regained his composure. "And also with yours." He returned before motioning with his right hand. "Come, we have a long way to go, and these men need shelter for the night."
So with uncertainty in his soul, Kakashi followed Takihanta up the beach.
